“It’s just life.”
“It’s just stupid.”

Hmm … I have to say, I was really looking forward to seeing this again having, I think, only seen it once before. But I can’t help but feel a little let down by it a second time around. Everything I said below still applies – even that it is a kind of favourite of mine that I will watch many times more – but it felt dreadfully bleak and uneventful this time around, like there should’ve been more. The ending feels rushed, and though Rob Brydon (as good shedding his usual image here as James Nesbitt was in Millions) and Stephanie Leonidas sell it perfectly … I don’t know, it just feels a little bare. It could just be me going overkill on the Alice theme, I guess. Like I said, I really love it, it’s visually stunning and everything – I love the “Close to You” scene – it’s just a little, I don’t know, creaky? Though for some, perhaps even me on the right day, perhaps that adds to its charm.

December 18th, 2005:

Fast reviews from now till the end of the year, apologies :-p

I said earlier in the year how I wanted to get to reading Neil Gaiman’s books having stumbled across his blog via regular RSS searches for Roger Avary and Poppy Z. Brite. This movie turns out to be a fantastic introduction to his work. Visually electrifying, with beautiful music and inspired casting, with a central performance by Stephanie Leonidas (aged 21 playing 15, lol) that will go down (for me at least) with Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth and even Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, both movies this brings to mind (as well as Paperhouse and the work of Hiyao Miyazaki), this is my new favourite movie of the year.

Tags: Alice, British, cuties, fantasy

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